India to become self-reliant in urea in 4 years, says Ananth Kumar

New Delhi(PTI): The country will become self-reliant in urea and fertiliser in the next four years and is aiming to become the steel hub of the world, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers, Ananth Kumar said.

In fact, India will be an export-focussed country from the current import-oriented one in the urea sector, Kumar, who was here to take part in Jan Kalyan Parv to mark one year of the Narendra Modi government, told reporters on Wednesday.

Highlighting the achievements, the minister said the Prime Minister has taken initiatives to reopen all closed urea and fertiliser plants in the country, including those in Sindri (Jharkhand) and Barauni (Bihar).

“We have a target to produce 70 lakh metric tonnes of urea in the country and taken steps to open plants in Assam, Telangana, Odisha and other parts of the country,” he added.

According to the new urea policy, the government has decided that there will be no urea price hike for the next four years.

An additional 20 lakh tonnes will be added following the revival of Sindri plant, the Minister said, adding that the current urea production stands at 2.25 lakh metric tonnes.

On top of that, he said, the reopening of the Sindri plant would generate 3,500 jobs.

Ananth also said the government has decided to add 200 million tonnes of steel production in the next 10 years to the current output of 100 million tonnes.

“Our aim is to make India a steel hub of the world,” he added.

Expansion of steel plants at Rourkela and Burnpur is being undertaken at a cost of Rs 26,000 crore.

The government has plans to start four new steel plants of 3-million tonne capacity in Karnataka, Odisha, Bengal and Chhattisgarh with an investment of Rs 2,40,000 crore.